


A Series of Moments

by SHINee64



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: And it turned into 2700 words of procrastination instead, Fluff bc I am Incapable of angst, I'm Sorry, M/M, The other characters don't show bc HotchReid is all I can think about, This was meant to be my first drabble, ambiguous timeframe, thank you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 08:20:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29898255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SHINee64/pseuds/SHINee64
Summary: This is a thing where Reid is quietly being close to Hotch on purpose and also happenstance, and he doesn't realise it's exactly what Hotch wants, too. Reid's version of hiding feelings is being scattered and obvious, whereas Hotch's is Glaring.
Relationships: Aaron Hotchner/Spencer Reid
Comments: 4
Kudos: 37





	A Series of Moments

**Author's Note:**

> I was gonna edit the fourth chapter and write the fifth/last chapter of the story I already have, but I went 'I'll have a go at writing a drabble. They're nice and short, so I'll get back to the chaptered story after that' like the fool I am. So anyways, here you go.  
> I used British spelling (bc I'm Australian) and spellcheck made me think I'd been spelling some things wrong my whole life, so thanks for that.  
> No beta here, all mistakes are my own (though I did read it several times to check, I will have missed some for sure)  
> I own nothing but my thoughts and daydreams when it comes to Criminal Minds.

“‘Morning, Hotch. I didn’t think I’d see you in here this early.”

“I’m always early, but this is odd for you.” It wasn’t a question, but Reid knew he wanted an answer anyway.

“I couldn’t sleep, and I wanted to at least be productive. Do you know if we’re getting a case today?” 

“Not until JJ’s in.” Reid felt a little ridiculous for asking, and he fiddled with the rolled cuff of his shirt, the warmth outside having made him roll it up on his way to work. He looked up at Hotch then, noticing the man’s gaze of his rolled sleeves. 

“It’s warm outside, huh? I was reading this morning that-”

“You look good, Reid.” It wasn’t how his rants were usually derailed, so it had a more lasting effect than normal. Reid looked back down at his sleeves before lifting his head to see Hotch’s retreating back. Rather suddenly, it seemed warmer inside than out.

* * *

  
  
  


“Reid, are you making a habit of being here both earlier and later than everyone but myself?”

“I uh, I haven’t been getting to sleep well, of late. So I thought I may as well get a head start on some paperwork while I can.”

“You’re not going to do that at home?”

“It’s easier to focus here. Is it like that for you, too?” He was twirling a pen in his fingers, and he’d been doing more of it than actual writing, not that he was going to tell his superior that.

Just like how Hotch wasn’t going to tell him that going home to an empty house was getting harder and harder, so he stared at Reid before walking off to the kitchen, instead. Reid was left at his desk wondering why such a question had earned him Hotch’s glare.

“If you’re not going home in time to cook, you should at least eat.” Hotch dropped Indian takeout at Reid’s desk on his way past. Reid didn’t have time to say anything more than a ‘thank you, Hotch’ before the older man was sequestered in his office again. He’d left before Hotch that night, like always, even though he’d stayed later than intended.

* * *

  
  
  


Not being in their own office could be annoying enough, but being in an office where it seemed twice as hot as normal made things worse. Not only that, but it was a hard case, and Reid  _ wished _ he knew how to fix the temperamental aircon. He’d slung his cardigan and bag over the chair, rolled up his sleeves, and unbuttoned the top of his shirt, cursing the fact that the others were out working different parts of the case where they could catch a breeze, and he was trapped in an office alone working the geographical profile.

He came back from the kitchen with a bottle of water from the fridge, gulping down a third of it when he sat down again. He almost spat it back up, too, when Hotch’s figure appeared soundlessly in the doorway.

“Sir! I-I didn’t see you there. Any updates from the others?” He thumbed away some water from his lips as Hotch’s glare stayed pinned on him. 

“No.”

He screwed the cap back on the bottle, then held it against his neck and let out a sigh at the cool relief. He didn’t notice that he’d closed his eyes, but opening them again showed Hotch was  _ still _ glaring, and Reid realised he hadn’t said anything else yet.

“Uh, the profile is still coming along, but I’ve made a lot of progress. Would you like to come see?”

“No, I trust you’re doing well. Thank you for the update.” Puzzled, Reid leaned to the side to see if his boss spoke to anyone else after leaving the room. It was only after he was out of Reid’s eyesight that Hotch took a deep breath, loosening his tie.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Hiding in a glorified broom closet while waiting to see  _ if _ , not when, a serial killer came back to his apartment wasn’t Reid’s idea of a great time. Especially since it was still apparently 100 degrees and he was trapped in it with Hotch. His superior had been sporting an incredible frown, and his frame was rigid in the partial light.

Reid was trying not to focus on thetop, undone buttons on Hotch's shirt shirt beneath the FBI vest, and was trying harder still not to stare at the sweat making its way down Hotch’s neck to catch at his collarbone. Reid swallowed, wishing that the closet were completely dark despite how uncomfortable that would have made him feel.

He was thrown back to a time in school where he and a female classmate had been chosen for the dreaded ‘seven minutes in heaven’ at the  _ one _ birthday party he had attended. He and the girl had sat quietly in the closet the whole time, neither saying a word. At least with her, he hadn’t been having  _ vivid _ dreams of what they could be doing if left alone.

He really wished it was completely dark in there, even though he knew it’d make him maybe a little fearful.  _ Better that than turned on _ .

“Reid,” Hotch’s voice was quiet, tense. “I can  _ hear _ you thinking. Either Benson’s going to walk in and we’ll listen to see if he gives anything away about where he’s keeping the girls before making an arrest, or Rossi will radio to say they’ve got him. Stay alert, definitely, but relax a little if you can. You’re making it hard to focus.”  _ Right back at you _ .

Hotch was looking out of the gaps in the door, and Reid’s gaze trailed from Hotch’s unbuttoned collar and down his arm, eyes tracing the veins in the other man’s forearm. He went back up Hotch’s arm to the dip at the base of his neck, between his collarbones. When his stare travelled further up to Hotch’s face, he nearly yelped when he noticed Hotch looking at him. 

He swallowed again and stared down at the gun in his hands, making a show of checking it over instead of looking at Hotch.

“... Reid?”

Whatever he was going to say was cut off by Rossi’s voice over the radio, letting them know Benson was caught and being taken in for interrogation. Reid nearly tripped over himself in his rush to get out of the closet, not wanting Hotch to mention how  _ lecherous  _ Reid must have looked. He'd buy Rossi something to show how grateful he was if it wouldn't bring about questions _of why_ he was grateful.  


* * *

  
  
  


“As many things as I have read, listened to, and watched, none of them have been about how to change a tire. Besides, do we even have the tools to do that with us?”

Hotch and Reid were pulled over by the side of the road, a thick canopy of trees blocking out the light of the stars. Hotch was pacing outside the vehicle, holding his phone up as he did to see if he got reception. Hotch was ignoring Reid in favour of frowning more and more at his phone.

“It’s not a matter of how high you hold the phone, Hotch. Garcia told us the cell towers would take anywhere between a couple hours to a couple says to fix. I’m pretty sure she was going to say more, but then we drove out of the range of the cell tower that  _ was  _ functional. Hotch?”

“Reid, this was a hard case, and I wanted to get back to the motel, sleep, and then get home. I  know  what Garcia said, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating. Besides, what if they've come back online by now?”

Reid didn’t want to mention the statistics of repairs and timeframes, knowing he’d only make Hotch more angry. Instead, he sullenly lowered the back of his chair until it was inclined enough for him to consider a truly uncomfortable sleep in the car. After a while, the driver’s side door opened and closed, Hotch’s sigh at seeing Reid breaking the younger’s train of thought.

“You think it’ll take so long that we’ll have time to sleep, Reid?”

“Likely yes, but regardless, someone will mention to Garcia that we aren’t at the motel if this goes on for too much longer. And then she’ll let them know where we are based on the cell tower we were last connected to, where our call cut out, and where we were headed to. We’ll just have to deal with it getting basically pitch black, is all.” 

Hotch’s frown made a reappearance at Reid’s tone.  “You truly don’t like the dark, do you?”

Reid’s silence was telling. He may have nodded, but both of them were leaving their phones alone to preserve battery power for when they could make calls, so there was nothing to light the car.

“Hotch?”

“Yeah, Reid?”

“Please keep talking. It’s… Stressful, right now. Hearing you, it’ll help.”

Hotch’s voice was odd when replying, but Reid was too focused on the near total darkness to think about it.

“What about?”

“Anything. Jack. What’s he into these days?”

Hotch was awkward to start, but as he kept going, his voice reflected how proud he was. At some point, Reid’s hand had encircled Hotch’s wrist. After a while, Hotch twisted his hand palm up and laced his fingers with Reid’s.

“You know, if they keep going down this path with nature-based experiments like the volcanoes they made, maybe you could help him?” After a beat of silence, Hotch made to pull his hand from Reid’s, but Reid’s grip tightened.

“I’d like that. You wouldn’t mind me coming over for something like that?”

“No, not for something like that. Nor anything else I can think of.” Reid’s chest felt tight. No longer due to the surrounding dark, but the nerves at what he was thinking of saying.

“What about… Could I come over even when Jack isn’t there?”

“I’d like that.” This time the statement was quiet, but Hotch’s thumb stroking the side of Reid’s hand was reassuring.

“Hotch?”

“Yeah, Reid?”

“You make the dark more bearable.”

After a couple minutes, Reid’s phone chimed, and he jumped in his seat, smacking his head. Hotch’s hand cradled the back of the man’s head as he fished his own phone from his pocket, dialling Garcia to let her know of their car troubles.

  
  
  


Hotch had given Reid a lift home when they finally got back, and the ride was filled with comfortable silence. Reid had been thinking about his conversation with Hotch while they were trapped in the car with a flat. His hands in his lap moved so he laced his fingers together, thinking of how it felt to have Hotch’s fingers twined with his. How Hotch’s fingers had carded through his hair a little when Reid had smacked his head.

“Reid?” Hotch’s voice broke his reverie, and Reid noticed the car was parked outside his building already.

“Sorry, I spaced out for most of the drive. Ah, thank you.”

“That’s okay. Are you alright?”

“Yeah, just… Distracted?”

Hotch nodded as Reid got out of the car, pulling his smaller bag over his shoulder before opening the back door for his go-bag. Hotch had already opened it from the other side, Reid’s go-bag in hand.

“Let me walk you up.” Reid hadn’t really wanted to leave Hotch’s presence yet, but hadn’t known how to prolong their being together. So with a smile Reid had to actively repress from an embarrassingly revealing and larger smile, he closed the door and led Hotch up to his unit.

“Excuse the mess I uh, wasn’t expecting visitors.”

“Do you often?” Hotch looked, for the first time, unsure. He was paused in the doorway, the handles of Reid’s bag held in both hands in front of him. Hotch was looking at Reid’s bag when he asked, but looked up to Reid with a self conscious air about him.

“No.” Back in his own house, and more sure that their conversations and moments had actually happened instead of being a tamer version of his dreams, Reid stepped close to Hotch. He tugged the man toward him slightly, reaching around him to close the door after Hotch was out of the way. He didn’t step back afterward, just bit his lip and looked back up at the older man.

“Does that put you at ease, a little?”

“For once, I’m pleasantly unsurprised.” Hotch set the bag down at his side, then moved his newly unburdened hands to Reid’s waist. “While that lifestyle isn’t bad, it’s not for me. And, I was hoping you felt the same.”

“I don’t do casual things, Hotch.”

“Would you mind using Aaron? We’re a bit close for surnames, I’d say.” Reid huffed out a laugh, his hands moving to rest on Aaron’s chest.

“You’re right, Aaron.” He went from looking at his hands to up at Aaron, the smile there easing the last of his nerves.

“Spencer, it’s obvious what I want, I’d think. Are you comfortable taking this further? Not- I mean by starting a relationship.”

Spencer nodded, his nerves coming back with more excitement in tow at hearing his first name from Aaron in this context. “Yeah, yeah I want that. I want you.” After saying that, he couldn’t hold Aaron’s gaze anymore, and dropped his eyes back to his fingers on the man's chest.

Aaron let him, for a moment, but then one of the hands at Spencer’s waist moved to his cheek instead, lifting his eyes to Aaron’s once more.

“Spencer, I need a serious answer to my next question, alright? Before anything else.” At Spencer’s nod, he continued. “I need you to tell me that you’re not doing this just because I’m your superior and you don’t feel comfortable saying no. I need to hear that you want this, work and our positions within it completely set aside.”

Spencer’s fingers curled in Aaron’s shirt. “I do want this, and you. I have for a long time now, Aaron.” Spencer was a little pleased with himself for not verbally tripping, because Aaron’s intense gaze had him off-balance, and their closeness had his brain and heart working overtime.

“Lastly, you’re not going to let this affect our work. If you want to question or debate something at work, you’ll do that as normal, without the fear of it intervening with our relationship.”

Spencer’s smile grew, and he let out a little laugh. “I’ll do my best, I can be good at compartmentalising.”

“It’s also hard for you to keep quiet about the things in your head, isn’t it?” Aaron’s smile matched Spencer’s, and the younger nodded as he lightly tugged at Aaron’s shirt. He looked at Aaron’s eyes before his gaze fell to the man’s lips, and he tugged at Aaron’s shirt again.

When Aaron leaned forward, Spencer’s lips met his in his first kiss in a long time. And definitely Spencer’s most anticipated. One hand slid up Aaron’s chest to curl around the side of the man’s neck, instead. A small noise escaped him when Aaron’s hands moved, one wrapping around his lower back as the other moved to press beneath Spencer’s shoulder blades, pushing the two closer together. 

There was a hint of Spencer’s teeth at Aaron’s lips before the younger pulled away, his breath fast and shallow. 

“I’m not ready for everything, yet, and it’s-it’s been a while, for me.”

“Spencer, don’t worry about me moving too fast.” His lips briefly met Spencer’s again before he pulled back enough to nudge his nose against the younger man’s cheek. “I’ve only ever been with Hayley, so this will be quite new, though very desirable, to me.”

A thrill of excitement and nerves shot through Spencer as his fingers played with the hair at the back of Aaron’s neck. “I-I don’t know how good a teacher I’d be.”

“You don’t have to be. We can look at it as learning together, if that’d make you more comfortable.” Spencer surprised himself with a laugh, then pressed his lips to Aaron’s again.

“I’ll take you up on that.”

* * *

  
  


Spencer came into the briefing room with his hands in his pockets and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Nodding at Rossi, he sat down and adjusted how his tie slid beneath his cardigan. When he looked up to be met with Aaron’s glare, he at least knew it wasn’t due to anger this time.


End file.
